Just as everyone was getting ready to leave, a single sentence from the announcer stopped them all dead in their tracks.
"Next up — another Level 9 Beast Tamer match!"
"One side is the Level 9 Beast Tamer from Daxing Third High, Xia Yan..."
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. A senior-year student who'd reached Level 9 — now that was something.
Nanjiang City currently had only Chen Shu at that level. He hadn't expected to run into a genius from Daxing City.
A handsome young man stepped onto the small platform.
His expression was utterly flat, devoid of any emotion, yet something about him radiated an unmistakable presence.
BOOM!
In an instant, a massive crimson tiger materialized out of thin air.
Wings sprouted from its back, its body muscular and enormous. Twin flames seemed to burn in its eyes as its roar reverberated through the Spirit Fighting Arena, radiating a terrifying divine pressure.
"An S-rank contract spirit — the Inferno Raging Tiger?!"
Every spectator in the arena shot to their feet, eyes brimming with shock and disbelief.
Even in a prosperous city like Daxing, an S-rank contract spirit was still an apex existence.
Interest flickered across Chen Shu's face.
His Slime could basically thrash any A-rank contract spirit at this point, but he still hadn't gotten the chance to go up against an S-rank.
Among the people he knew, only Fang Si and Shen Wushuang had S-rank spirits.
And neither of those was someone he could handle...
Ouyang Bao spoke up. "Teacher, that guy down there is the Number One obstacle to my domination of Daxing City!"
His Ice Snow Crazy Lion was a top-tier A-rank contract spirit with multiple offensive skills, and it still wasn't enough.
In the battle between a pay-to-win whale and a lucky emperor, the whale came out looking a step behind.[1]
"No worries. I'll beat him up for you when I get the chance."
Chen Shu patted Ouyang Bao on the shoulder.
Whether you were a whale or a lucky emperor, before a cheating bastard, you were nothing but a little brother.
The fight below erupted without delay.
The Inferno Raging Tiger's opponent was a B-rank Dark Earth Turtle.
Xia Yan's expression didn't even flicker. He couldn't have cared less.
The Inferno Raging Tiger opened its massive jaws and fired a single fireball.
The Dark Earth Turtle specialized in defense. Its shell glowed with yellow light as it braced to tank the hit head-on.
Then, mid-flight, the fireball changed form — splitting apart like a cluster bomb into countless smaller fireballs.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Violent explosions ripped through the arena like a machine gun barrage.
The Dark Earth Turtle's owner paled. In the very first exchange, his contract spirit had already taken damage.
Just as he was about to surrender, the Inferno Raging Tiger beat its wings once, claws sheathed in crimson light, and lunged straight at the turtle.
SCREECH!
He was a beat too slow. The tiger's claws had already torn clean through the turtle's shell.
Flames spread through the breach, searing flesh, and the turtle let out agonized screams.
"You—?!"
He frantically recalled his Dark Earth Turtle, face ashen.
The guy was vicious. He'd gone in fully intending to slaughter the turtle outright.
"Quick on the recall, at least. Next time, I'll butcher that turtle for real."
Xia Yan let out a light chuckle, completely indifferent.
There was no grudge between them. It was pure, simple contempt.
In his eyes, anything below S-rank that died simply died. It didn't matter.
"Vicious little bastard."
Shen Wushuang glanced at Xia Yan once and said nothing more.
"Everyone, go home tonight and review your matches. Make sure your contract spirits recover fully — there'll be more fights tomorrow!"
With that, everyone filed out of the Spirit Fighting Arena.
"Teacher Chen, are you free tonight? Wanna grab dinner?"
Ouyang Bao scurried over, his admiration for Chen Shu at this point flowing like an endless river...
"Of course I'm free!"
Chen Shu agreed without a moment's hesitation. A free meal was a free meal — you'd be an idiot to pass it up.
"Xiao Xing, Old Xie — let's go!"
Chen Shu called out to the dejected duo.
The four of them left the Spirit Fighting Arena and headed straight for a nearby upscale restaurant.
...
"Xingxing-bro, Xie-bro, how come I didn't see you two compete in the arena?"
After a bout of eating and drinking like starving wolves, the four had warmed up to each other considerably.
Mainly because they all had a touch of Social Brazenness Disorder, which made bonding absurdly easy.
"Our combat power's just too strong."
Xie Sunan said with a straight face: "Think of us as the class's nuclear bombs. If we were deployed, the Spirit Fighting Arena itself probably wouldn't survive."
Ouyang Bao, hook-line-and-sinker, nodded solemnly. "No wonder they didn't let you compete. You don't just casually deploy nukes."
The moment those words left his mouth, Xu Xingxing and Xie Sunan both froze, then slowly turned in unison to look at Chen Shu.
Who says nobody deploys them casually?
"Why's everyone looking at me?"
Chen Shu was gnawing on a pork hock, having paid zero attention to their conversation.
Then, his gaze drifted toward the restaurant entrance.
"Hm?"
Shen Wushuang had just walked in with the rest of the class.
"Teacher Shen!"
Chen Shu shot to his feet and called out.
Shen Wushuang froze on the spot. A split second later, he spun around and made for the exit...
For fuck's sake, why are you literally EVERYWHERE?!
Chen Shu blinked, then closed the distance in a single stride, blocking Shen Wushuang's path — pork hock still in hand.
"Oh, Chen Shu! What a coincidence!"
A smile materialized on Shen Wushuang's face, as if he'd only just recognized him.
"..."
The corner of Chen Shu's mouth twitched. Could you be any more fake?
"Teacher, what's all this?"
Shen Wushuang gestured at the students behind him. "I'm just taking everyone out for dinner. I wanted to invite you three too, but you'd already disappeared from the rooms."
At that moment, a waiter walked over with a professional smile.
"Mr. Shen, the tables you reserved at noon are numbers..."
"..."
An excruciatingly awkward silence descended.
Chen Shu stared at Shen Wushuang, looking deeply wounded. A class dinner — and you didn't invite ME?
Shen Wushuang's expression stiffened. For a moment, he was genuinely worried Chen Shu might pull out a bomb right then and there.
He patted Chen Shu's shoulder and said with a helpless sigh:
"Chen Pi, it's not that I didn't want to bring you. The thing is, before we left, the parents specifically told me to keep the students safe and avoid contact with dangerous individuals."
"I'm a dangerous individual?" Chen Shu said, face full of shock.
Behind Shen Wushuang, every single student nodded in perfect unison. Do you seriously not know how dangerous you are?
They had zero interest in having their dinner interrupted by getting blown sky-high.
"I see."
Chen Shu let out a sigh, then beat his chest and stamped his feet in anguish:
"What a failure of a class president I am!"
"I thought we were a collective — a loving, tight-knit family! But who could've imagined... it would come to THIS. In the end, I gave my heart to the wrong people..."
"Alright, alright!"
Watching Chen Shu's Oscar-worthy performance, Shen Wushuang felt his brain throb. "I'll pick up your table's bill, okay?"
"Deal!"
Chen Shu switched expressions like a Sichuan opera face-change — one second, gut-wrenching grief; the next, instant agreement.
"..."
Everyone stared, utterly speechless. So the whole damn song-and-dance was about getting a free dinner?
Chen Shu sauntered back to his table and told Xu Xingxing and the others: "This one's on me tonight! You guys can treat me back next time!"
"Now I know why you weren't scared dropping that bomb."
Xie Sunan said: "With skin that thick, even a nuke couldn't scratch you."